Rim rolling machine



Dec. 30, 1941. E. A. BOVEE RIM ROLLING MACHINE Filed June 24, 1958 2Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. EL 040 A BOVEE ATTORNEY.

Dec. 30

E. A. BOVEE RIM ROLLING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 24, 1938 mm2 V/% mw III III INVENTOR. fZ/HD ,4. BOVEE' BY M1. 7M

ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 30, 1941 RIM ROLLING MACHINE Eliad A. Bovee, Lansing,Mich., assignor to Motor Wheel Corporation, Lansing, Mich, a corporationof Michigan Application June 24, 1938, Serial No. 215,706

6 Claims.

This invention relates to rolling machines for shaping metal hoops, andmore particularly to mechanism for guiding the material to be formed andholding it in place between the rolls of the rolling machine.

In present day practice the commonly accepted method of forming wheelrims, particularly those of the drop center type, is to bend a flatmetal strip into a hoop, join the ends of the hoop by welding, and thenroll the hoop to the desired cross-section between a pair of rolls of arolling machine. During the rolling process the hoops becomeconsiderably distorted and do not reassume a true circular shape untilthe rim is completely formed. It is essential, therefore, to providesome mechanism for guiding the hoops and holding them in proper positionbetween the rolls which will maintain contact with the hoops but whichis capable of movement radially of the hoops. Heretofore the usual meansfor guiding the hoops consisted of a pair of cylindrical guide rollersmounted on slides which were slidable in guide ways and were held incontact by means of springs. The rollers were moved into operatingposition by means of manually operated mechanism. These guide rollershad a tendency to jam against the work, and therefore, would not followthe contour of the hoops as the latter were distorted under the actionof the forming rolls. As a result, the rollers were prematurely wornout, and the hoops were not held in proper relationship to the formingrolls.

This invention overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages by means of anovel guiding mechanism which exerts the proper pressure on the hoopswhen in active position, and which is capable of free movement to allowfor deformation of the hoops during the rolling process.

Briefly, the invention comprises a rocking arm or bell crank pivotallymounted intermediate its ends on the frame of the rolling machineadjacent the forming rolls. Mounted on one end of the bell crank is apair of laterally spaced conical rollers which are adapted to engage theedges of the hoops and exert pressure thereon in radial and axialdirections. The other end of the bell crank is connected to the frame ofthe machine by a resilient means which allows the bell crank to rock butwhich normally tends to swing the bell crank about its pivot in adirection toward the hoops, thereby exerting pressure thereon.Preferably this last mentioned resilient means comprises a pistonoperating in a cylinder and actuated by compressed fluid, preferablyair. By employing a fluid actuated piston and cylinder ous movingelements.

it is possible to swing the bell crank to inactive position without thenecessity of providing additional means to perform this function.However, this resilient means may be a spring or other similar device.

It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide a guidingmechanism which will exert a constant pressure on the work during theprocess of rolling the same. A further object is to provide a guidingmechanism which is capable of readily following the contour of the workas the shape is changed by the rolls. A still further object is toprovide a mechanism which may be readily moved from a work holdingposition to a work releasing position, and which is under the control ofthe operator.

These objects and others ancillary thereto will become apparent in thefollowing specification when read in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding partsin the several views.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a side elevational view of a rolling machine embodying theinvention;

Figure 4 is a front elevational view of the struc ture shown in Figure3. v

The rim rolling machine shown herein comprises a main frame II] whichsupports the vari- Adjacent the upper portion of the frame is a shaft IIon which an upper forming roll 12' is secured by any suitable means.This shaft l l is rotatable on a fixed axis. A second movable shaft [3is also mounted on the frame below the shaft II and carries a secondforming roll Id. The shaft I3 is mounted for movement verticallyrelative to the frame l0 and the shaft H whereby the rolls I2 and 14 maybe moved apart to allow the work to be inserted between them. The twoshafts H and I3 are connected by a gear train including gears l5 and ISin order to transmit rotary motion from the shaft l I to the shaft l3.The shaft H carries a gear I 1 which is securely fixed thereto. Gear I1is driven by gear l8 fixed to a shaft l9 that is driven by any suitableprime mover. A fly wheel 20 is also mounted on the shaft I9.

The lower roll l4 and the shaft l3 on which it.

is mounted are moved up and down by a conventional mechanism indicatedat 2|. Only part of this mechanism is shown, as its construction is wellknown to those skilled in the art. The motive power is furnished by ahydraulic piston and cylinder (not shown) operating a crank 22 whichdrives a pitman 23 connected to the shaft I3.

The hydraulic piston for moving the lower roll I4 is supplied with fluidfrom any suitable source of supply through a pipe 24. The supply offluid is controlled by means of a valve 25 operated by a linkage 26 anda handle 21. which is under the control of the operator of the machine.A discharge pipe 28 is connected to the valve 25 for carrying the fluidback to the supply reservoir. Vertical movement of the handle 21 in onedirection moves the valve '25 to a position where it admits liquid underpressure from the pipe 24 to the hydraulic cylinder of the operatingmechanism of the lower roll I4, and movement of the valve 25 in theopposite direction allows the liquid to be discharged from the hydrauliccylinder through the pipe 28, as indicated'by the arrows.

The particular rolling machine shown herein is adapted for forming wheelrims of the drop center type. A rim of that type is shown in position at3!. It will be apparent that the rolls I2 and I4 must be moved apart bythe above described mechanism to allow the hoop from which therim isformed to be inserted between the rolls. Then when the lower roll 14 ismoved upward the rolls and the hoop 31 are rotated, and the hoop isshaped to the form of the complementary rolls.

As the hoop is shaped to the required crosssection, it may lose itscircular contour until it is completely finished and it is necessary toprovide a mechanism to guide the hoop during this rotation and hold itin proper position relative to the rolls. This mechanism consistsgenerally of two parts. The first part is the fixed guide roller 29which is mounted on a support 30 at one side of the rolls I2 and I4. Theguide roller 29 seats in the bottom of the groove in the rim 3 I. Theroller 29 is supported on a yoke 32 that may be adjusted longitudinallyof the support 30 by means of a hand wheel 33. Once properly adjustedfor the particular type of rim being rolled, it is unnecessary to movethis roll.

The other part of the guiding mechanism is located on the side of therolls I2 and I4 opposite the roller 29. This is the structure thatembodies my invention. It comprises a bell crank 34 oscillatably mountedon a shaft 35 on the frame Ill. Secured to the lower end of the bellcrank 34 is a bracket 35 rigidly bolted thereto by bolts 35a. Adepending bar 36b, preferably formed integral with the bracket 36depends therefrom. A pair of guiding rollers 31 are rotatably mounted onshafts 39 which are attached securely to the bar 36?) by means of nuts32a. It will be noted that the bar 35b is provided with an elongatedslot 38a whereby the position of one guiding roller may be adjustedlaterally in order that different widths of rims may be formed on thesame machine. The guide rollers 31 are shown in crosssection in Figure3. It will be seen that they are mounted on ball bearings 38 on theshaft 39 for easy rotation with respect thereto. The rollers haveconical tips 40 for a purpose which will presently appear.

The upper end of the bell crank 34 is provided with a laterallyextending arm M to which a bracket '42 is secured by a bolt 43. A pistonrod 44 extends through a hole in a block 44a which is pivoted on a shaft45a on the bracket 42. It

will be noted that the piston rod 44 is threaded and is secured by twonuts 44b to the block 44a whereby to allow for adjustment of the pistonrod relative to the block 44a. A piston (not shown) is connected to thepiston rod 44 and is housed within a cylinder 45. The cylinder 45 ispivoted at 41 to a bracket 41a securely bolted to the main frame bymeans of bolts or cap screws 48a.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the bell crank 34 may rockabout the shaft 35 as the piston moves within the cylinder 45, and theguide rollers 31 may move from the full line posi tion in Figure 3 tothe dotted line position.

The piston and cylinder 45 previously mentioned is of the double-actingtype. A pair of conduits 48 and 49 extend from the opposite ends of thecylinder 45 to a valve housing 50 carried by the support 5| mounted onthe valve 25. Air under pressure is supplied to the valve 50 through asupply pipe '52 from a compressed air storage tank 52a of relativelylarge capacity. (See Figures 1 and 2.) The pressure in the tank 52a maybe maintained by any suitable air pump. The valve 50 may be of anysuitable type in which the conduits 48 and '49 may be alternatelyconnected with the storage tank 52a or with the atmosphere. When conduit49 is connected to the supply pipe 52 then the conduit 48 is open to theatmosphere, and when conduit 48 is connected to the supply pipe 52,conduit 49 discharges to the atmosphere. The valve 50 is operated by anarm '53 pivoted on the valve housing 50 and is connected by a link 54 tothe linkage 26 that controls the valve 25. It will thus be seen thatwhen the handle 21 is moved to operate the valve 25, the bell crank 34will also be moved to throw the guiding rolls from active to inactiveposition, or vice versa. It will be obvious, however, that these twomechanisms may be controlled separately, if desired.

The guiding rollers 31 arespaced, as shown in Figures 2 and 4, in amanner to'engage the opposite edges of the rim 3| that it is desired tohold in place between the rolls. When air pressure is exerted on thepiston in cylinder45, it is transmitted through the bell crank 34 andguide rollers 3! to the work 31. Due to the conical shape of the guiderollers 31, the pressure exerted on the work by the guide rollers may beresolved into two components, one directed axially of the rolls I2 andI4, and the other radially thereof. The first mentioned componentcenters the work axially of the rolls and the other component holds thework against the rolls.

It will be apparent that because of the relatively large volume of thestorage tank 52a, as compared to the volume of the cylinder 45, thepiston in the cylinder may move from one end of the cylinder to theother without changing the combined volumes of the cylinder and storagetank to any appreciable extent. Therefore, from a practical standpoint,the air pressure on the piston will remain constant for all positions ofthe latter. The air pressure may be adjusted to an amount sufficient toforce the guide rollers 3'! against the work at all times, so that asthe work is distorted during the rolling process, the guide rollers mayrock about the pivot 35. If the shape of the work approaches that shownin dotted lines in Figure 3, the rollers will swing in acounter-clockwise direction about pivot 35, thus causing the piston tomove to the left in the cylinder 45 against the pressure of the airtherein and in the tank 521:. As the work nears completion it approachesthe final form shown in full lines in Figure 3, allowing the airpressure acting on the piston to swing the arm 34 and rollers 31 aboutthe pivot 35 in a clockwise direction, Thus the rollers 31 are at alltimes held in contact with and in the proper guiding relation to thework 3|, yet the pressure will never increase to a point where the guiderollers will be scored by the work.

The scope of the invention is indicated in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a rolling machine, a support, a pair of complementary formingrolls rotatably mounted on the support, a bell crank pivotally mountedon the support for rotation in the plane of rotation of the formingrolls, a pair of spaced apart tapered guide rollers mounted upon one endof the bell crank for rotation about axes parallel to the plane of theforming rolls and adapted to engage the edges of work to be rolled andhold the same in place between said forming rolls, one of said guiderollers being mounted for adjustment in a direction axially of theforming rolls, and resilient means connecting the other end of the bellcrank to the support for biasing the guide rollers against the work.

2. In a rolling machine, a support, a pair of complementary formingrolls rotatably mounted on the support, a pair of spaced apart guiderollers movably mounted on the support adjacent the rolls and adaptedwhen in operative position to engage opposite edges of work to be shapedby said rolls and when in inoperative position to release said work, theadjacent sides of said guide rollers diverging toward the rolls, andmechanism for moving said guide rollers between inoperative andoperative positions and for holding the guide rollers against the workwith a substantially uniform pressure when in the latter position.

3. In a rolling machine, a support, a pair of complementary formingrolls rotatably mounted on the support, a pair of spaced apart guiderollers movably mounted on the support adjacent the rolls and adaptedwhen in operative position to engage opposite edges of work to be shapedby said rolls and hold it in place between said rolls and when ininoperative position to release said work, the adjacent sides of saidguide rollers diverging toward the rolls, and fluid operated mechanismfor moving said guide rollers between inoperative and operativepositions and for holding the guide rollers against the work with asubstantially uniform pressure when in the latter position.

4. In a rolling machine, a support, a pair of complementary formingrolls rotatably mounted on the support, a pair of spaced apart guiderollers movably mounted on the support adjacent the rolls and adaptedwhen in operative position to engage opposite edges of work to be shapedby said rolls and hold it in place between said rolls and when ininoperative position to release said work, the adjacent sides of saidguide rollers diverging toward the rolls, and fluid operated mechanismfor moving said guide rollers between inoperative and operativepositions and for holding the guide rollers against the work with asubstantially uniform pressure when in the latter position, saidmechanism including a double acting piston and cylinder, a valveconnected with said cylinder, and means for supplying fluid to saidcylinder through said valve whereby said cylinder may be placed incommunication alternately with a source of fluid supply and theatmosphere.

5. In a rolling machine, a support, a pair of complementary formingrolls rotatably mounted on the support, a bell crank pivotally mountedintermediate its ends on the support, a pair of spaced guide rollersadjacent one end of the bell crank and adapted when in operativeposition to retain work to be formed in place between said rolls andwhen in inoperative position to release the work, the adjacent sides ofsaid guide rollers diverging toward said rolls, and fluid operatedmechanism connected to the other end of the bell crank for moving saidguide rollers between inoperative and operative positions for holdingthe guide rollers against the work with a substantially uniform pressurewhen in the latter position.

6. In a rolling machine, a support, a pair of complementary formingrolls rotatably mounted on the support, a pair of guide rollers movablymounted on the support adjacent the rolls and adapted to retain the workto be formed in position between the rolls, the adjacent sides of saidguide rollers diverging in a direction toward said rolls, and fluidoperated mechanism for maintaining the guide rollers against the Workwith a substantially uniform pressure at all times during the rolling ofthe latter.

ELIAD A, BOVEE.

